Document review workflow has existed in content management systems for many years. Various systems implement workflows in different ways, typically incorporating features for gating workflows based on approvals. The existing systems use approvals at the document level, meaning that the document as a whole must be approved before the review workflow can continue. In some cases, the existing systems use metadata, which a user or an application can associate with the document based on various conditions. In this way, coauthors are able to see a summary of changes made by other users, e.g., by alternative font colors, comments and/or tracked changes. However, existing systems do not adequately address document review workflows based on individual portions of documents, among other things. Source code control systems also implement review workflows based on approvals. Similarly, the source code as a whole must be approved before the review workflow can continue. Source code control systems have some limited mechanisms for saying, “You've got an outstanding code review.” However, such systems are unable to focus on particular portions of the source code to ask questions such as, “Did you review function convertDateToEpoch( )?” Thus, other communication tools and mediums have been developed and relied on by collaborators to coordinate and comment on changes, e.g., such as instant messaging (IM), short message service (SMS), Yammer, Skype, SharePoint, etc. However, these communication tools add complexity rather than improving the implementation of document review workflows.
It is with respect to these and other general considerations that the aspects disclosed herein have been made. Also, although relatively specific problems may be discussed, it should be understood that the examples should not be limited to solving the specific problems identified in the background or elsewhere in this disclosure.